Dark

“Mom, please don’t go.” Tyler Lombardi begged as her mother walked toward the door of their house.

Mrs. Lombardi turned around and kissed her daughter on the forehead. “I’ll miss you, too, baby.” She said in her trademark Italian accent. “But, I have to go. If I don’t, I’ll get fired.

Tyler begged her mother to take her with her.

“You’ll be fine here with Dan.”

That’s what Tyler feared. Dan was her stepfather. And being alone with him was like taking an evening stroll through the fiery pits of hell. Dan was dangerous. Not just dangerous, scary. Especially to Tyler. The things he did to her. The things he’d told her if she ever told about, he would kill her.

Tyler remembered the first time he’d held her down and raped her. She was only twelve years old. It hurt so bad, she’d almost passed out. When he was finished, he threatened to kill her if she told anyone. Especially her mother.

“Mom, please.” Tyler begged once more. But, her mother turned and left the house, waving as she walked down the doorstep.

Tyler ran upstairs and locked herself in the bathroom. Dan want supposed to be home for an hour, but she didn’t want to risk him coming home early and finding her. She decided she’d pretend she had craps, and maybe he’d leave her alone.

She stared into the mirror and herself. At her light brown skin and long, black hair. She looked like her father. Her real father. He was black, while her mother was Italian. The mix always made her feel ugly. People would tell her over and over again that she was beautiful, but it she never believed it. Cute, maybe. But beautiful? She didn’t think so.

“Tyler?”

Tyler’s muscled tightened and she felt herself beginning to cry. “Dan, I have real bad cramps.” She begged, trying to muffle her tears. The last time she’d cried, Dan told her he’d really give her something to cry about and slammed her against her own bedroom wall.

“I’ve heard that excuse before.” He shouted angrily to her. “Get out here!”

Tyler wiped her eyes roughly, then checked the mirror to make sure her face was clear, then walked out the bathroom. Dan grabbed her shoulders and squeezed, leading her toward her room.

Raping Tyler wasn’t really about sex to Dan. It was about control, and anger release. When he’d have a frustrating day, he’d come home and take it out Tyler. To most it was sick and wrong, but to him it made perfect sense. Ty was like a toy. A tool. And when he was finished playing with her, he would put her on a shelf and leave her until he wanted her again.

Tyler sat on her bed, while Dan ran out to the shred to get the ropes. She didn’t know why he needed them. She’d proven she was obedient. She hadn’t told her mother, or anyone for that matter, just like he told her. So, why did he still need to tie her to her bed frame? Maybe he found it fun. Maybe he liked seeing her all tied up. Whatever the reason, it was sick.

“Lay down.” Dan commanded her when he got back. She did as told immediately. He walked toward her, then tied her hands together with one end of the string, and the other end to the bed frame.

Tyler struggled against the ropes for a moment. They were hurting her. They always did.

“Quit squirming!” Dan shouted, slapping her on her stomach.

Tyler moaned, then let her arms go limp.

The rest was just another memory that would be etched in her mind for life.

--

West walked hurriedly toward the girl’s bathroom of the school. It had been two days since she took her last test, and she was hoping, no, praying it was a false positive. This time she would be sure. She’d bought three tests. If even ONE of them said “false”, she was in the clear.

She pushed open the door and walked into each stall, checking to make sure the room was empty. She then sat on one of the toilets, taking out each stick and peeing on it.
When she was finished, she walked out of the stall and placed the sticks on the sink. As she waited, she felt her cell phone vibrate in her pocket. “Hello?”

“Hey, West?” The receiver asked.

“Tracey, I don’t really have time to—”

“You have GOT to hear this.” Tracey said. “I was just talking to Jessica. Jessica said she didn’t like John, she liked Mathew but John said he thought she was cute so now she has to choose. She said now she likes John, but Mathew asked her out so she…”

West was one of the popular girls. The popular girls were pretty airheaded, so most of her conversations were like this. She wasn’t sure how she fit into the popular crowd, but she did. And that was all that mattered. Her social status was secured as long as she didn’t do anything stupid to fuck it up.

“Tracey, I really can’t—”

“Oh, my God. So guess what Jessica did?”

West sighed. “What?”

“She slept with both of them to see who was better.”

That reminded her. West was never having sex again. “So, who was better?”

“JOHN!” Tracy laughed. “She told the whole school he sucked in bed, and now he can’t get a date.”

West chuckled under her breath. It wasn’t that she didn’t like John, it was just a little funny to see him suffer. Maybe that was why she was popular. She said goodbye to her friend and hung up the phone, then turned her attention back to the sticks. She picked one of them up.

Positive.

She sighed and shook her head, then picked up another.

Positive.

She was nervous now, almost crying. This next stick would determine her future.

Positive.

West threw the stick across the room and dropped to her knees. “SHIT!” She covered her face and sobbed into her hands. She felt a sting of pain run up her back. What was she gonna do? She was only sixteen. She couldn’t take care of a baby.

After sulking for what felt like hours, she picked herself up off the ground and started toward the door.

Her nightmare was just beginning.

--

He was rich. He was famous. He was part of a widely popular boy band. He should be happy, right?

Wrong. Kevin was, as the media described him, the “ugly” Jonas.

Now, this wouldn’t be so bad, if he were able to go home and put a stop to it. But, it never ended. His father and brothers seemed to find it hilarious. His dad had even cleverly named him ‘Ug J’. A mixture of ‘ugly’ and ‘Jonas’.

“Hey, Ug J!” Nick called into his older brother’s room, laughing. “Dad wants you.”

Kevin sighed, and pushed himself off his bed. He walked out of his room and down the hall into his father’s study. “Yeah, dad.”

Mr. Jonas was sitting beside his wife, waiting Kevin. He sighed as he stood. “Son, you’re mother and I are—uh—concerned about you. You don’t have a girlfriend, you don’t have any friends. What’s wrong with you, boy?”

“Paul!” Mrs. Jonas shouted, “What your father means is… you haven’t really been exploring your—”

“Are you gay?” His father interrupted.

“Paul!”

“Just tell us, boy, are you a fucking fag or what?”

Kevin sighed again. This was how his conversations with his father usually went. His dad would ask him if he were gay, and he would say the same thing each time. “No, dad.”

“You sure?”

Kevin turned on his heal and walked back to his room. He was tired of talking to his father. Tired of his brothers. Tired of being “the Ugly one”. Pretty much tired of life.

Well, there was always a solution to that problem.